Big Finish For Beginners

As you may or not be aware by my articles constantly praising the amazing work that this company does, I love Big Finish. I have to admit, I haven’t been a devout follower for too long; I started listening to Big Finish in early 2013 when I bought Dark Eyes from Amazon, as I wanted to know more about the rather illusive Eighth Doctor, played by Paul McGann.
As Big Finish is such a plethora of different ranges, each with different jumping on points, I thought I’d produce a guide for anyone who might want to jump head first into the amazing and vast Big Finish Universe. This article is going to focus on their Doctor Who ranges only, however if you want me to write an article about their other ranges, just let me know.

The Monthly Range 1-50If you’re a fan of the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors and you want to get into Big Finish fairly cheaply to test the waters, then the first 50 releases are probably your best bet. These releases are extremely cheap, being £2.99 to download each. Personal highlights from the first 50 releases are The Sirens of Time, The Holy Terror, Storm Warning, Invaders From Mars, Spare Partsand Jubilee.

The Light At The EndIf you love all the Classic Doctors equally and you don’t mind spending a bit more money, then this release is for you. This was Big Finish’s huge 50th anniversary celebration; featuring the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors, with cameos from the first three too, this release is an absolute must for any Who fan. The Standard Edition is £12.99 to download or £14.99 for a physical CD whereas the Limited Edition is £25 to download and £45 for the box set.

The Fourth Doctor AdventuresIf, like many Classic Whovians out there, Tom Baker is your Doctor, then these range is undoubtedly the one for you. The range is fairly new, only starting in 2012, but is an absolute delight; Tom Baker’s voice is just phenomenal. The range has recently finished it’s fourth series, with a fifth due out next year. If you want to get into the Fourth Doctor Adventures, I recommend you start at the beginning with the amazing Destination: Nerva which is £8.99 for the download or £10.99 for the CD.

The Eighth Doctor AdventuresThese releases are my absolute favourite (so far) from Big Finish. I could go into detail about why Paul McGann is one of the best Doctor’s, but I think that’s an article waiting to happen. Luckily for you, there are a fair few jumping on points for the Eighth Doctor Adventures.Firstly, there’s the beginning of the Eighth Doctor Adventures, whilst the Doctor is travelling around with Lucie Miller, one of my all time favourite companions, played by the wonderful Sheridan Smith. If you want to start right at the beginning you have to start with Blood of The Daleks Part 1 (yes, in the Eighth Doctor series there are stories with multiple parts, luckily you don’t have to wait a month for the conclusion to the cliffhangers) which costs £8.99 to download of £10.99 for the CD .The jumping on point for me, as I said at the beginning of the article, was Dark Eyes, a collection of four hour long stories which involved the Doctor trying to solve the mystery of Molly O’Sullivan and why she has such dark eyes… This release is £35 to download or £40 for the CD box set.

The final place I would recommend to people who want to get into Eighth Doctor Big Finish releases is the latest release, Doom Coalition 1 the first part in a new Eighth Doctor saga; like Dark Eyes, Doom Coalition consists of four hour long stories that are exemplary. Like Dark Eyes, the price is £35 to download or £40 for the CD box set.

Short TripsFor those of you that just want a quick Big Finish fix for a very reasonable price once a month, the new line of Short Trips are for you. Every month, the release focusses on a different Doctor and gives you a half hour story for only £2.99. The Short Trips line has only been revived this year in this new format, and they are all worth a listen. My personal favourite so far is a Third Doctor story, Time Tunnel.

The New SeriesOh how I remember Big Finish fans rejoicing when the news broke earlier this year that they’d finally been given the rights to produce audios based on New Who. For the younger generation of Whovian, I think this has opened up the opportunity to start getting involved and engaging in the Big Finish community, as of writing this there have been two releases related to the new series; the first being UNIT: Extinctionwhich costs £20 for both CD and download until the end of the month, followed by Jago & Litefoot & Strax which is £12.99 to download and £14.99 for the CD. A review of which can be found here. Coming extremely soon too are The War Doctor: Only The Monstrousin December, followed by The Diary of River Song in January. Both of these releases can be pre-ordered now for just £20 for either the CD or download.

Free Stuff!Who doesn’t like free stuff? Especially free Doctor Who? Luckily, Big Finish are kind enough to release some stories for free! Some of my favourites are The Ratings War, No Place Like Home and Living Legend. These releases are great to see if audio adventures are for you as they’re risk free, they aren’t too lengthy and they cost you absolutely nothing.

So there you go, if you’re a beginner to Big Finish, I’ve given you 19 places to jump in! I hope you enjoy listening to these releases as much as I do, if you want me to do another article based on other Big Finish properties like Dorian Gray, Torchwood and Sherlock Holmesthen please let me know.

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